Strange

I must admit that almost everyone at home is better than me as far as taking care of a sick animal is concerned. If the animal is on the mend, it’s a different story but otherwise I would rather it was somebody else was keeping track of the distressed breathing! I hate animals dying on me. Yet, it may sound very strange but looking after animals who just come in to die in your house can be a very satisfying experience.

I remember walking home on my way back from school and seeing a cat sitting in the middle of the road. I tried shooing it away without success. Reaching home I sent D to see if she could do something about it as one feared it would either get attacked by dogs or get run over. D returned with the cat as she too had failed to budge her. We felt happy to see her eating hungrily and judging by her size, we thought she was a kitten.

The vet however had very different opinion. He claimed that Buri, as she was named thereafter, was a very old cat. She had no teeth or nails. He suspected that she had not eaten for days. Apparently old stray cats usually die of starvation. Unfortunately, very unlike him, he had little hope.

Buri was with us for just three short days. She passed away in her warm little bed in our Omni (our house being full to the capacity). For those three days she did not have to worry about food and she had people who loved her at the time of her death. Yes, she was not a stray, she was our beloved Buri!

Then came Blinko. B’s office was on the tenth floor. Not high enough to miss a cat in distress on the road! The cat had apparently met with an accident and had a gaping hole where her left eye should have been. Blinko, as she was named, was an extremely responsive cat who would respond even when some other animal was being called. She seemed to be getting better for the first two days. However, her agenda was like Buri’s.  She had just come to rest for a couple of days before migrating to a better world.

Last but not the least was Multi. You can perhaps guess by her name that she was multicoloured. We happened to see her one day, near our house, all skin and bones. She was offered some food and thereafter she was our window cat for the next two months. She would laze around on the windowsill or on the garage top but would jerk into action at the sound of any food. Then one day old age happened. She stopped eating food and was brought into the house for better care. There was not much that we could do though she was taken to the vet more than once. She passed away in R’s arms.

All three were with us for a very short while. We have no long stories to narrate about their naughtiness. All three incidents gave satisfaction that they had felt loved at the fag end of their lives. Of course, they must have had a colourful past which we did not know about.

These stories were about three total strangers who met us at the very end of their respective lives. We have had innumerable animals, both cats and dogs, who lived in our locality and were brought in either because they were unwell or old and passed away in our house- Choti, Sharmi and her sibling, Mashi (all dogs) Cassie, Hulo (cats) just to name a few. Would it not be wonderful if there were shelters something in the nature of old age home to take in animals in distress who could be given love and care when they cannot fend for themselves on the streets or have been abandoned by owners who lose interest and find their pets a burden when they are no longer in their prime?